


Just In Time

by winterhats



Series: What's new? [1]
Category: Kagerou Project, Mekakucity Actors
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), F/M, Gen, Pregnancy, post-STR
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-18
Updated: 2018-09-18
Packaged: 2019-07-13 20:54:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16025801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/winterhats/pseuds/winterhats
Summary: Shintaro is the only one around when Takane goes into labor.(Spoiler alert: he does not have a good time).





	Just In Time

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I've been going back and forth about publishing this but I figured eh, what the heck, right?
> 
> I've been writing a lot, haven't I? Look at me go! Have some friendship between Shintaro and Takane, because those two friends mean a lot to me! This is something I started writing months ago and I accidentally opened it last week and I decided to finish it. Why? I'll never know, but it was fun to write. I love freeloader Shin, lol!
> 
> There are a lot more swear words than usual in this fic and I'm a good child so that makes me very sad, but since it's Shintaro and Takane it was inevitable. And yeah, I know it's long but I'm me *sweats nervously*

Kisaragi Shintaro had gotten up at three in the afternoon today.

He didn't feel particularly guilty or anxious about it like usual, though, so he considered himself to be in a good mood. Such a good mood that he even showered and brushed his teeth today.

In fact, he's feeling so functional that he's _also_  going to eat something.

Those things alone bring a smile to his face, and satisfied with himself, Shintaro makes his way across the living room to get to the kitchen. Running a hand through his damp hair (that he had no intention in drying), he mutters a lazy hello to the woman lying on the couch, but he doesn't get an answer.

Not that he was surprised; Takane, as of lately, has been a real bitch. Like, she's always a bitch, sure, but her usual amount of bitchyness is what makes Takane _Takane_ , and he's usually okay with that. This last month though, she has been the worst person in the world.

 _I can't really chew her out for being a bitch, though, can I?_ , he thinks, going straight for the fridge once he found himself in the kitchen. _I mean, she's pregnant. Hormones and all that jazz._

So today too, Shintaro decides to not call her out. Takane's got enough stuff on her plate for being a girl in the first place, pregnant or not, so he lets it go. ...Plus, it's not like he, the house's freeloader, has any right to complain to one of the owners about them being bitchy. At least, Shintaro has enough decency to know that it doesn't work like that.

And he knows Haruka's got it tougher when it comes to her, anyway, so whatever.

Pouring a glass of chocolate milk, he nods to himself, completely forgetting about Takane. Ah, yes, a healthy lunch.

It really wasn't his fault, honestly. He just happened to spot the carton of chocolate milk before the food he should reheat (and that Haruka and Takane had probably saved for him today), that's all. If anything, it's their fault for buying stuff like this in the first place!

Although, now that he's tasting it, he wonders how long it's been in the fridge. Shintaro looks for the expiration date on the carton, but when he finds it, he sees it's due to next year. Hm, he supposes the milk just happens to have a weird taste, even if he doesn't remember this particular brand having said weird taste. It _has_  been a while since he's had this, so maybe they changed the formula?

Shintaro takes another sip; still the same, but not as bad. He suddenly hears Takane groan from the other room.

"Oi, Takane," he calls her, because apparently, her sounds of suffering counted as an invitation for him to talk to her. "How long has this chocolate milk been in your fridge?"

Deciding to keep drinking it despite the taste and Takane's lack of response, Shintaro puts the carton back in the fridge. With the glass in hand, he steps back into the living room to join his friend. Chances of her shooing him away were high, but he wanted to watch the new episode of the anime he's watching in the big tv, so she'll have to deal.

He makes sure to sit in the armchair, though, as she has taken full posession of the big sofa. How, being so tiny? He has no idea, but she managed.

After she lets out another groan, Shintaro rolls his eyes, "Stop it with the porn sounds."

"Fuck you."

He blinks, surprised by how pained her voice sounded. Finally taking a good look at her, Shintaro feels himself start sweating cold. Since she was hiding her face between the cushions, he couldn't see her expression, but her body was actually and genuinely trembling, holding a hand to her belly.

"H – hey, Takane, what's wrong?" he puts down his glass on the coffee table, nervously getting up again. He awkwardly hovers his hands over her, as if that helped, "Do you want me to call Haruka?"

At the mention of her husband, she peeps out half of her face from the cushions. Now, he can see her breathing heavily.

"Not necessary," she says, but immediately winces again.

"What the hell, Takane! I'm so calling him!"

"There's no need, I can handle it!" Takane slaps all the cushions off of her face, trying to straighten up. And that was a very messy sight; Shintaro felt pain by just looking at her trying to do something as simple as changing positions. "They're just... very bad contractions... I've had them since this morning."

"You've been like this since this morning!?"

"No!" she quickly says, finally sitting, or at least kind of. "You think Haruka would've gone to work if he saw me like this this morning!?"

Shintaro doesn't think that. If anything, he's sure Takane didn't even tell him she was having contractions, because Haruka worried about absolutely everything and started babying her everytime she expressed the slightlest discomfort. And if there was something Takane hated, it was to be babied.

"R – right, I get it," he nervously answers, trying to think of something. "But they weren't as bad then, right? Really, this freaks me out, let me call him for my sake at least!"

As that wasn't entirely a lie, Shintaro still said those words with a strategy in mind. He knew how stubborn she could be, so speaking from his own weakness instead of hers was the biggest chance he had to get Takane to comply.

She seems to consider it for a moment, but quickly started shaking her head over and over. She only stopped when another groan made its way out of her mouth. The groan became a word, "Fffffineeee! Call him!"

He nods, fishing his phone out of the pockets of his dirty pajama pants. He looks for Haruka's name contact with trembling fingers, trying to ignore Takane telling him to hurry up, despite having been against the idea five seconds ago.

And then, because life would never go easy on them, Haruka's phone starts ringing in the kitchen. Shintaro and Takane stare at each other, trying to comprehend the situation, as Momo's cheerful voice in one of her old songs continued to ring.

He hangs up, and the music stops. Takane finally reacts,

"He's such an idiot!" she exclaims, kicking the coffee table with full force. His poor glass of chocolate milk crashes against the floor, thankfully not breaking but leaving an ugly stain on the carpet. Takane doesn't seem to mind at all, and kept kicking the table until it was out of her reach, "THAT IDIOT, THAT IDIOT, THAT IDIOT!"

"Calm down, Takane, Jesus!" he sits down next to her, but makes sure to move slightly away after she looked daggers at him. He clears his throat, "It'll be fine, they'll go away soon. Just wait them out."

"I've been _waiting them out_  since this morning, asshole," she says, and wow, okay. The insult was not necessary. "And that's easy for you to say– you don't even know what a period cramp feels like, so don't you dare come here and try to tell me to WAIT THEM OUT."

How the heck does Haruka deal with this demon? Shintaro's pretty sure she just spat a bit of fire on his face.

"I can't believe he forgot his phone!" she doesn't wait for an answer as she started lamenting to herself, though. Takane covers her face, choking out something that sounded like a sob. "How dare he! Leaving his pregnant wife alone and not taking his phone!? I hate him!"

" _Alone_... I'm here, y'know?"

"ALL BY HERSELF, HELPLESS AND TOO FAT TO MOVE."

"Don't be like that, you aren't fat–"

"You think I just implied being fat is bad!? Wow, Shintaro! Real mature!"

"Oh my god," he holds his hands up, as if to put a stop to it. Once he gets up, he sees the way Takane's expression drastically changes from anger to panic, "Okay. I'm done. I'll be upstairs."

"What?" he feels his feet unwillingly stick to the spot he's standing on when she looked like she'd start crying for real. "Y – you're leaving me alone?"

"You _just_  disregarded my presence, Takane, what the hell," he massages the bridge of his nose. "What do you need?"

"Nothing. Just don't be a jerk and make me company, _jerk_."

He crosses his arms, wobbling his body in a small tantrum before complying. He sits down again, "Fine, but you can't be mean to me!"

"I'll try."

"That includes not calling me names."

"I'll try very, very hard."

She shoots him a very small and forced smile before turning her head away from him. He stares absently at the forgotten milk on the floor, but as he'll try to avoid cleaning that up as much as possible, Shintaro doesn't say anything.

Everything was quiet now, except from Takane's quiet exhales as she tried to deal with the pain. Which might be a lot, since in the span of five minutes she had yelled, smiled, kicked stuff and agreed to not call him names. She's probably feeling awful.

Still, he wishes he could just bend over and grab the remote from the coffee table (that, somehow, hasn't fallen off from Takane's kicks) but he couldn't bring himself to. It wasn't because it was awkward or anything, it just... felt weird to, for some reason.

As he's mentally preparing himself to do it anyway, Takane eventually breaks the silence,

"Shintaro," she says his name in a very serious tone, and he feels goosebumps. "Can you bring me Haruka's phone?"

"Uh, sure?"

Okay, _now_  he started feeling awkward.

Shintaro stands up again, and makes his way towards the kitchen; earlier, his ringtone came from here, right? He spots the phone on the counter, and quickly fetches it. The idiot must've forgotten it there while making breakfast in the morning, huh?

He busies himself with looking at Haruka's dinosaur themed phonecase as he made his way back to the couch. Takane snatches the phone from his hands as soon as he sits back down.

"Whatcha gonna do with it, anyway?" he asks, but she doesn't answer. He hears the sound of the phone unblocking, "...Ew, are you of those couples who check each other's phone without the other knowing?"

"What? Ew, no, we aren't."

"How did you know his password, then?"

"I literally guessed it just now."

" _What_? On your first try?" he knows Haruka might be a bit too predictable sometimes, but that was impressive. Takane was just quietly going through his contacts, apparently looking for something in specific. "...What's his password, anyway?"

She doesn't answer. Instead, she only brings the phone to her ear and gestures at him to be quiet. Shintaro frowns (he doesn't like to be shushed).

After a few seconds of waiting, Takane suddenly brightens up in the most fake way possible; that probably meant someone picked up.

"Oh, hello!" she goes, also in a very fake and bright voice that reminded Shintaro just slightly of Ene. "This is Kokonose Haruka's wife, I was wondering if I could please speak to him?"

_Ah, she called to his work. It was pretty obvious, now that I think about it..._

"Ah, he's in class right now, I see," honestly, a small smile tugged at his lips from simply hearing her fake politeness, since it was _so_  unlike her to speak this way. Still, he doesn't get in the way of her conversation. "Well, I would really appreciate it if you could, as soon as possible, tell him I called since there's an emergency."

_Huuuh, she really did want Haruka to be back, after all._

_Well, it's understandable. He's her husband and the guilty party over her pregnancy, too._

He laughs at the thought, only half-hearing Takane's answers,

"W – what kind of emergency?" she's still smiling, even if the person at the other end of the line couldn't see her. "Well, we're expecting and– yes, thank you, anyway, so– ...Eight months– ...Yes, we're very happy. Anyway, sir– It's a girl and can you please tell my husband I will go to the hospital for an emergency!? Thank you!"

She hangs up, not even saying goodbye, as Shintaro processed her words in his mind.

Mentally going over the last bit of what she said, he finally reacts, "You're going to the hospital!? It's that bad...?"

" _We_  are going to the hospital. I can't exactly drive like this," Takane corrects, angrily putting the phone down. "I hate when people think that only because I'm pregnant I have to give them all the details about it!"

"Wow, what!" Shintaro swallows, and totally ignores her complaint. "But I can't drive!"

"What? Yes you can, you have a license!"

"Me having a license doesn't mean I can drive!"

"That's exactly what it means, Shintaro! Jesus!"

Despite his protests, Takane starts getting up, and Shintaro has no choice but to help her.

* * *

 

"Oh my god, you suck at driving."

"Shut up!"

So far, this trip to the hospital has managed to become one of the most stressful events in Shintaro's life. Which said a lot for someone who's had suicidal tendencies and has been through death.

He knows all the rules and the meaning of every sign and color when it came to this, but actually being behind the wheel? It was the worst thing in the world.

But who can blame him? Driving is scary as hell, which is why he hasn't done it at all ever since getting his license (something he did only to feel accomplished with himself after he became an adult, to be honest).

He isn't sure if he feels this scared because it's been a while since he's actually driven, or because Takane was the one in the passenger seat.

"It won't kill you to go a little faster, you know?" she tells him, once they stop in a red light. She doesn't sound particularly mean, like it was a suggestion rather than a sarcastic comment, but it annoyed him anyway.

"Look, I'm pretty on edge right now," he answers, nervously grabbing onto the steering wheel. He sees the way Takane looks at him as if saying "oh, _you_ 're the one on edge?" but he ignores it. "Driving is like taking your life in your hands, and it's even worse when there's a pregnant lady next to you! If I do something wrong in this traffic I could kill you, myself, and your daughter! And also I know that if I do as much as scratch your car you'll murder me."

"Calm down, dumbass, you're doing fine. I was just teasing when I said you sucked," she laughs, but he catches the glimpse of another wince as he turned his attention to the street. He advances, trying to ignore the bothersome feeling in his mind. He should be the one reassuring her, to be honest, not the other way around. "Also, don't ever call me _lady_  again."

"Okay... Mrs."

"Shut the hell up."

Feeling better with himself after she laughs again, Shintaro sighs. Okay, he can do this. He'll get her to the hospital safe and sound, Haruka will eventually get there and the doctor's going to tell them there's nothing wrong with her or the baby and they'll be back at home in no time. They'll hug each other, and thank him for being such an amazing person for driving his super pregnant friend to the hospital. They'll be so thankful, they'll even be glad he always freeloads at their home!

_"To make it up to you, you don't have to go back to your dirty and old apartment forever after our kid is born! You can visit as much as you do now! Oh, y'know what, just move in with us!"_

Yep, that's how it's gonna go.

(Okay, the last thing might be wishful thinking from his part, but HEY, maybe!).

_All I gotta do is get to the hospital._

The sounds of the traffic and the city in general aren't working in Shintaro's favor as he tried to gather the courage necessary, and nevermind about Takane's small puffs of air as she also tried to keep it together.

Clearing his throat, he attempts to strike a conversation, "So... have you guys thought of any names yet?"

He doesn't even dare to glance at her as he's too focused on the road, so he doesn't know what kind of face she makes. He only guesses it by the way her voice sounded, which was a little melancholic,

"No."

"What?" he forces out a laugh, genuinely surprised. "I thought you guys were just being annoying and tried to keep the name a secret."

"What made you think that?"

"Um, the fact that you've been calling her "She Who Must Not Be Named" might be the cause," he says, and Takane lets out another laugh. He doesn't laugh because they do really call their unborn baby that and he's convinced that it's not as funny as they think. "Honestly, you guys are such nerds."

"I guess."

Afraid of the conversation dying and staying alone with his thoughts again, Shintaro asks, "Well, are there any names you've liked at all?"

She takes a moment, too busy with her breathing to answer right away. When the answer does come, it sounds pretty absent, "Not really. Haruka and I haven't discussed it."

And then she went quiet again. Dammit, was it a mistake to bring up baby-related stuff? And what does she mean they haven't discussed it yet? It was pretty hard to believe that they haven't thought of any names being eight months pregnant.

Plus, she didn't even say "yet". Takane spoke of it as if that conversation wouldn't even happen, or at least that's how Shintaro received the reply in his mind.

"I remember you guys didn't even want to know the gender," he suddenly says, because he never knows when to shut up. Takane's in pain and very stressed out? Whatever, he'll just keep bugging her with these questions she very clearly doesn't want to talk about, right? "Like with the name thing I thought you were just being huge nerds and wanted to keep it a surprise. Was that really the reason?"

Again, he can't see her face, but the groan she makes is enough for him to imagine it. He isn't sure if she made that sound because of the pain or because his questions were being too much for her; the hospital was in sight, and now he had to focus in everyone's worst nightmare and look for a spot in the parking lot. Shintaro still waited for an answer though.

He holds tight onto the wheel. "I remember... I remember I didn't find out about this until it was pretty much impossible for you to hide it and I figured it out. Were you even planning on telling me?"

"Shintaro–"

"Are you guys, like," he swallows, and pauses as he tried to pull over. The hospital's parking lot wasn't very full, so fortunately, it wasn't being really hard. Takane tried to say something again, but he's faster, "...Are you trying to _not_  get attached by doing all that?"

She doesn't answer, and once the car was finally parked, he turns to her,

"You guys think... something's gonna go wrong with the pregnancy?"

"Ugh! Yes, Shintaro, we're the most pessimistic people on Earth and we didn't want to fall in love with the idea and suffer once something happens because something _always_  happens," she says in just one breath, desperately clingling to his shirt. He's about to do the logical thing as the great friend he is and reassure her everything's gonna be okay, but then he sees her seat is wet and– "Like right now, Shintaro. My water just broke, so please forget about that for a moment and get me out of the car."

He blinks at her, dumbfounded.

"Wh– what?"

"Get me out of the car, Shintaro!"

* * *

 

Once Takane was settled in a room, everything else felt like a blur. Shintaro's head was spinning as the doctor spoke to her and tried to reassure her about this, but he didn't listen to it.

He caught a few words, which were enough for him to understand that apparently, her body had started to prepare early and that the baby would be born preterm.

The doctor had said that it wasn't very high-risk since she's thirty eight weeks already, but he's sure she only worded it that way to calm Takane down.

"These things happen, and after week thirty seven they are expected. So this isn't considered premature, either, mommy," the doctor said. She kept calling her "mommy", which is apparently the way doctors call the pregnant patients, but Takane seemed super messed up about it. "Your girl just wants to get out as soon as possible, it seems. I bet she's very excited to meet you!"

Takane doesn't answer her; she was too busy covering her face with her hands, trying to process all the information. When it's obvious she wasn't going to say anything, Shintaro clears his throat, "Er, thanks, doc. Takane's just a bit stressed, don't mind her."

"Oh, of course, I understand. Don't worry, mommy, I'm sure your husband will be here in no time. Meanwhile, you have your very supportive brother with you so try to stay calm," she flashes Shintaro a smile, since he's the said "supportive brother".

When checking in, they mistaked him for her husband since that seemed like the most logical thing, but after they both screamed "ew, no way!" at the same time, they instantly assumed they were siblings. They tried to deny that too, but since only family members could accompany the patients, they decided to go along with it.

"You have started to dilate too. You're already at three," the doctor nods, writing something (most likely unrelated, Shintaro thinks) in her clipboard. "So I'll be back in an hour to check on you and see if you're ready for the delivery room."

The doctor leaves with a small wave and a "bye, mommy and uncle!" that made Shintaro realize how weird Takane must feel with the way she was being addressed.

Obviously, that's only followed by a very, very uncomfortable silence Shintaro found himself wanting to end as soon as possible. He watches Takane as she uncovers her face and simply holds onto her head, probably still processing all of it.

Letting out an awkward cough, he shifts uncomfortably in the chair he was sitting on and tries to lighten up the mood as well, "So... ya think your tadpole will call me uncle?"

"Shintaro, I didn't bring the bag with everything we need for the birth and stuff," she suddenly blurts out, and he freezes. Uh-oh, it sounded like someone needed comfort– and he is, most definitely, _not_  the perfect person for that.

"Don't sweat it," he tells her anyway, knowing that his voice is a little more nervous than she needs. "As soon as Haruka gets here I'll go fetch it, don't worry."

"B – but I didn't go to the stupid childbirth classes like Haruka wanted me to, either," she adds, not paying attention to his answer. Shintaro wants to say something to that too (not very sure what), but Takane carries on, "We haven't bought a crib yet! I – I don't know the first thing about being a mom, I didn't even _have_  a mom! I'm useless, Shintaro!"

"Wow, hey, easy!" Shintaro, officially panicking, feels his world stop when she starts crying.

Because Takane has never cried like this in front of him. He has seen her huff in annoyance, scream her lungs out in anger; sure. But _cry_?

He has only seen Enomoto Takane– ah, wait, _Kokonose_  Takane, cry two times before this. The first one was when she reunited with Haruka all those years back, but he only managed to see that because he and the Dan were peeking from the door. And he still didn't watch a lot of it, and Shintaro would like to say it's because he's pretty decent and wasn't okay with spying, but it was because he felt too bitter and jealous of them.

The second time wasn't long ago, and maybe it doesn't count, because he didn't see her, he _heard_  her. It was when he overheard a fight she had with Haruka, and her voice sounded broken and angry. After they made up, they spent the whole night weeping together, and when Haruka, the next day, apologized about the whole thing being so loud, Shintaro pretended like he didn't know what he was talking about. They were fighting about something related to the baby.

But this? Oh, this is new. Takane has never showed this kind of weakness _in front_  of him. Nor to anyone who isn't Haruka, for that matter. And she wasn't _only_  crying; Takane is breaking down, belittling herself.

It's difficult because he has accepted Takane is better than him a while ago. So if someone as amazing, as _brave_  as her was like this, what does someone like him have to offer? He can't make her feel better at all!

Shintaro suddenly wishes Haruka would come into the room and save the day, hug his wife and calm her down. But that doesn't happen. Instead, Takane just starts talking,

"You were right, you know?" she spoke in between whimpers. He wants to hug her or something, but Takane didn't seem up for that. "About... Haruka and I not wanting to get too attached to her."

 _Her_  being the baby, Shintaro thinks. He doesn't say anything, and allows her to continue,

"And yeah, you figuring it out wasn't in our plans, either. But I don't know _what_ was in our plans," she trails off, finally looking back at him. At the sight of her resigned smile under all the tears, he feels his heart break. "I told Haruka like, _days_  before you found out."

"What?" he can't help feeling confused. "Weren't you like, four months pregnant or something?"

"I was," she nods, pursing her lips again, in an attempt of holding in more tears. She doesn't succeed. Her voice cracks, "I wouldn't even have sex with him in order to hide it. Or at least not without an oversized shirt on, or I'd avoid laying on my back–"

"Ew. No, stop. Gross, I do not want to hear that."

"Well, you gotta, asshole," she hisses, and Shintaro knows that later, when she's in all of her senses again, she'll regret oversharing like this. "But I didn't tell him until then because... well, this isn't the first time I'm pregnant."

The words hit his head like a stab, and even if the implications of it were pretty obvious, he still forces himself to ask, "H... How come?"

Takane sends him a look that also stated the obvious, as if to emphasize what she was trying to say. But she sighs, and doesn't avoid answering,

"We agreed we wouldn't have kids," she starts, trying to keep it together. She takes in a breath, and pauses for a moment, wincing just slightly. Shintaro notices she might be going through another contraction, but Takane quickly goes on, "Because, y'know, Haruka's illness was passed down from his _mom_ , so it wouldn't be crazy to assume it could happen again. So... yeah, we made that decision."

Shintaro nods, but if he was honest, he couldn't say he would have guessed this. Of course, now that he thinks about it, it makes a lot of sense, but he never really considered the possibility of Haruka and Takane _never_  having kids together. When he found out they were pregnant, he wasn't really... surprised. He just thought it was a matter of time, after all, and that it was all only natural. These two always striked him as the family type.

But now he kind of feels like an asshole for not even asking.

"So when I got pregnant the first time around, despite our decision, despite we weren't even married then– We were like. So happy. You have _no idea_  how ridiculously happy we got, Shintaro," she lets out a sour laugh, and makes a weird face; like a smile that tried to push back tears (which is exactly what it is). "And obviously, because God forbid we have a good time, I had a miscarriage."

The way she says it is very blunt; okay, so she wasn't sugarcoating it, that's fine. Even if he had expected it because of the build up, Shintaro still couldn't help wincing once she said the word _miscarriage_.

"Shit, Takane," he says, because honestly, he had _no idea_  what to say. He shakes his head, "I had no idea. I'm so sorry."

"Whatcha sorry for, dumbass? Wasn't your fault," she laughs, and he's glad to see she doesn't look like such a crying mess anymore. She's _still_  a mess though, that's true, and her hair did stick to the dry tears of her face, but _hey_ , it was an improvement. "...I mean, no one is to blame in a situation like that."

"Of course not," Shintaro crosses his arms. "But knowing you, you guys probably blamed yourselves anyway."

"...Yeah, we did," Takane sighs. Then, he could feel the guilt radiating off of her as she spoke her next words, "Haruka was _crushed_ , and him being super sad made _me_  super sad, on top of me _already_  being super sad because I fucking miscarried so _that_ 's why– ...That's why, I decided that I... I wouldn't tell him this time."

"W – wait," he says, and rarely enough, Takane complies. She _waits_ ; she shuts up and looks at him, waiting for what he has to say. She looked ready to be judged, ashamed. "You... like, if you miscarried again, you were planning to _hide_  that from him?"

Takane covers her face again, "A – am I a bad person for that?"

As much as he wouldn't like to be, Shintaro feels surprised. Sure, he wasn't expecting Haruka and Takane to have had a miscarriage in the past, but he was even more surprised to find out Takane was willing to deal with something like this by herself. He didn't really think there was stuff those two didn't tell each other.

By living with them, Shintaro realizes Haruka and Takane deal with a certain... _issue_  in their relationship. Which is that they tend to depend a little too much on each other.

Shintaro just tried not to think too much about it (it wasn't his problem, to be honest) and thinking too much about it reminded him how little he knows about his best friends. Just like Takane mentioned earlier, she didn't have a mom. Yeah, he's aware she was raised by her grandparents, but as to  _why_? Who knows, certainly not Shintaro!

It's just bizarre to imagine Haruka and Takane talking to other people outside of themselves, and that's because they just don't.

Sure, they get along fine with their coworkers and stuff (at least as far as he knows) but _friends_  friends? Nope, that's only in the Dan, and now that everyone is busy working and things like that, they're pretty much out of the question as well.

He only realizes this because he crashes in their house, after all; they're just too... them. It's always "we" and "us." Even if they have Shintaro third wheeling around, he still feels far from them.

There are things they don't talk about to anyone but each other, things that friends should know about with no problem. Like about their families and general past before all of the series of very shitty events happened. Shintaro had no idea about their backgrounds, after all. They could have been raised by wolves and he wouldn't know.

But what he does know is that they are each other's entire worlds. And he is not a part of that.

So obviously, Haruka must have been absolutely crushed upon hearing the news Takane was willing to hide such a thing from him. Of course. But Shintaro was making it about himself in his head; perhaps, he didn't know a lot of Takane, but with Haruka it can be different, right? He would always tell him everything, right?

Nope, he didn't tell him about this. Shintaro often thinks maybe it's because he's failed as a friend, and maybe they feel like they can't tell him stuff, even if he knows that wasn't the case (or maybe, he just likes to think that).

"You aren't a bad person, Takane," he eventually says, when he realizes he's been silent for too long. Takane, meanwhile, has been quietly sobbing by herself. What a great friend he is. "I mean... you just didn't want to make him upset again."

"I made him upset anyway, _God_. I realized I had to tell him because my doctor asked me if I wanted to know the gender," she cried. "The GENDER, Shintaro! Like, that made me see just how alive the little tadpole was! And there I was having clothed sex with my husband because I didn't want him to notice I was pregnant! ...He already knew, obviously he figured it out because he's not a fucking idiot like I am but he was still hurt as hell because I hid it from him!"

He blinks, unsure of what to say. As she sobbed, Shintaro realized it didn't really matter what he said, but he had to say something, anything. Yeah, she needs Haruka right now, not him, but he's all she has as of now so she'll have to deal. He takes in a breath,

"Takane, calm down. You just made a shitty decision, happens to the best of us."

_What the hell! That does not help at all!_

"Shintaro," she quietly mutters his name, and he feels his heart squeeze inside of him. "He wasn't even angry. Just hurt. I suck so bad. I can't– I have no idea how to do this and now, suddenly today is gonna be her birthday!?"

"Chill, you'll be great," he tells her, and Takane looks genuinely surprised. Oh, good, he's going the right way this time. "You've taken care of me all this time. How harder could a slightly more useless human being be?"

If she was planning on answering, he doesn't let her, doing instead something his highschool self would gag at; he hugs her.

He realizes with an inane feeling of sadness that, in all of their years of friendship, this is the first time, _ever_ , that he's hugging Takane. But he makes it count. She hugs back, but so hesitantly that she makes the whole thing a lot more awkward.

Shintaro tightens the hold of her though, not letting that stupid awkwardness stop him right now. He suddenly notices he has no idea how to hug people, so perhaps to distract himself, he says, "You'll be a kickass mom. She's a lucky kid, and she's going to be _fine_."

He feels her nod against him, and he thinks that's a good sign.

"I want Haruka," Takane says, and Shintaro sighs against the crook of her neck. Of course she does. At this point, he kind of did too.

He notices he might be trying to push back tears as well. Because of a lot of things.

Shintaro's happy for them. But he's also... not happy, because he's an eternal third wheel and outsider in their relationship, and that can be pretty tiring when they're the only people he wants around.

And also because they're going to kick him out. Shintaro does not want to be kicked out of the house that has toilet paper. But he has to go.

Haruka and Takane have done enough for him. He can't keep taking things from them and give nothing in return; they're starting their family, the one they deserve _so_  much, and he needs to step away.

 _Although, a big part of me really wants the kid to call me uncle._  
  
Is that weird?

Then, he hears Takane mumble, very quietly, "I'm so scared."

He hums, "Of motherhood or of squeezing the thing out of your body?"

"Both," she laughs, pulling apart, but still keeping herself close enough to have her hands against his chest. She looks at him in a pretty fond way, and for some reason, Shintaro found himself thinking that he would take a bullet for her. "Thank you for being here, Shintaro. I love you."

"Wh – what?" having been taken very, _very_  off guard, he stutters. "What the hell, Takane! You're married!"

He knew she didn't mean it like that, but the dumbest part of him allowed himself to try teasing her. Takane rolls her eyes, and despite how smoothly she has said it, the embarrassment seemed to be quick to shower her. Shintaro can't help smiling at the sight of it.

"Gross, not like that, ya nasty. Like, it's just to tell you that I appreciate you a lot," she looks away, furrowing her brows as a pink blush painted her face. It reminds Shintaro of Haruka saying how cute she is when she gets all flustered like this, but he can't bring himself to share the feeling. Sure, he can see she's pretty, he guesses, but... gosh, yeah, she's too much of a sister. "Don't blame me for saying stupid shit, I have too many hormones and I'm not thinking before I speak."

"You always say stupid shit, hormones or no hormones," he teases again, only winning a probably well-deserved punch on the arm. It hurt like hell, but Shintaro acts like it didn't; he wasn't going to give her the satisfaction. He still rubs the sore spot. "For what it's worth though, I love you too... germ."

He adds the nickname at the end of it in an attempt of feeling less embarrassed when saying such a thing, but it doesn't work.

"Yeah, figures," Takane just grins, and Shintaro pushed back the urge of hugging her again. "I'm still gonna regret saying this stuff later."

Perhaps he hasn't really failed at this friend thing. After all, she's here at the hospital, she's smiling, and she told him she appreciates him. A girl he once hated turned out to be quite a decent person, too. Who would've thought...?

The door suddenly opens, and they both turn to see Haruka standing there with the most anxious face Shintaro's ever seen on him.

All the calmness Takane seems to have gathered is gone at that exact moment, in which she looks back at him and barely manages to choke out, "Haruka,"

"I'm here," he simply answers, in that same heartbreaking voice. It's not like an announcement, either, and more like a reassurement.

Haruka rushes over to her, quickly catching her in an embrace that immediately tells Shintaro his own hug a moment ago was pretty bad. Haruka seemed like the kind of person who gives great hugs, after all. Takane had started crying again, and as he held her, Haruka kept apologizing and repeating to her "I'm here, I'm here."

And Shintaro, not for the first time around these two, felt incredibly out of place. He clears his throat, which is usually enough to make them self-aware and stop the PDA, but this time they don't listen to him. Still, it's not like he blames them.

So before he could stop his mouth, Shintaro hears himself say, "I'll move out."

Because apparently, he doesn't know how to read a mood. Haruka and Takane instantly break apart,

"What?" Takane's the first one to ask, and she sounded as worried as Haruka looked.

Shintaro clears his throat again, but this time it's to try and feel less awkward (it doesn't work), "I said I'll move out. I mean it's not like I'm living with you guys, but let's be honest, _I've been pretty much living with you guys_ , so–"

"Shintaro-kun," Haruka interrupts, shaking his head as if in disapproval. "What are you saying?"

"Haruka, let him finish. If Shintaro leaves then we could have sex as loud as we want."

"Takane, please."

"Look," ignoring that interruption, Shintaro continues. He's really trying, but they're making this very difficult; Haruka and Takane simply stared back like he was an alien, and he didn't like that at all. "After today you guys will have a daughter, and you shouldn't have a grown man on your shoulders as well–"

"After today?" Haruka cuts in, confused as ever. Shintaro remembers that he knew to come here because Takane called to his work, but he's yet to be updated in everything the doctor told them. Oops. He looks at his wife, questioningly, "What does that mean?"

"Oh, okay, small detail. Don't freak out _but_ ," Takane swallows, and her smile instantly drops as she follows up with, "my water broke and I'm dilating! Hurray!"

"Dilating? Wh– Wh. _What._  You're in labor?!" the former anxiousness on his face is quick to come back, and Haruka is suddenly looking back at Takane as if he was expecting her to say "just kidding!" at any moment. Of course, she doesn't, so he starts, "But!? But we haven't even bought a crib yet!? And, and we don't have a name for her!? What!?"

"You guys being idiots and procrastinating all of that stuff doesn't push the kid further inside of Takane, Haruka," Shintaro says, and feels like the words he chose might be a little too gross, but oh well, it's too late to take them back now. Haruka shakes his head again,

"And we don't have the bag with everything prepared! Oh my god, this is a disaster, what!?" he kept repeating "what" like that was an understandable question to make. "Why didn't you tell me over the phone?!"

"Because _somebody_  forgot it at home!"

"Not that! I meant when you called to work!"

"I didn't _know_  then!" she says, exasperated, but her voice sounds softer when she adds, "By the way, have fun cleaning up the mess in the car seat."

"Wh–"

"And also the chocolate milk stain on the carpet of your house," Shintaro takes the chance to also add, to which Takane nods. "Sorry about that."

The both of them share another laugh, as Haruka just continued to look like the most confused person on Earth.

* * *

 

"I think my hand is broken."

Shintaro raises an eyebrow at Haruka, slightly weirded out by his words. The other man seems to understand the look, because he quickly clarifies,

"Takane squeezed it too hard," he explains. "And also screamed in my ear very loudly, and insulted me a lot as well."

He looked so disturbed at the memory that Shintaro can't help laughing. He wasn't there, but he can figure out by himself that that particular woman giving birth is probably a very stressful scenario for a lot of reasons.

Haruka, though, didn't seem to be anywhere near laughing. He just sighs, "But I'm no position to complain about something like that, am I?"

Shintaro's eyes wander back to all the newborn babies when he hears his voice break, because he's not ready for yet another weeping friend. And Haruka crying is even worse than Takane crying; Haruka crying has a strange force over him, after all, and he doesn't want to end up sobbing as well. It wouldn't be good for either of them.

He tries to find his friends' daughter in the sea of ugly baby faces behind the glass. His eyes travel until he spots her again, and Shintaro instantly feels calmer at the sight of her; she's there, and she's okay, and she's still alive. That's cool.

He can't wait for her to be old enough to understand words, so he can tell her just how stressful her stupid birth was.

Fortunately, she didn't need to be in an incubator or something like that, and she's "strong and healthy", words that made Haruka cry for an entire half an hour when he said them to Shintaro, in an attempt of letting him know everything had gone smoothly. Takane had apparently passed out right after squeezing the thing out, and Haruka seemed very troubled about it.

Shintaro is, too, because this means he has to take care of this guy as well. He sighs, and places a hand on his shoulder, "They're both fine, don't be a crybaby."

"Takane's so strong," he whimpers again, and Shintaro thinks he's really making a great job at keeping his cool. "She was in so, so much pain."

"And she isn't anymore," he's quick to say, and luckily, Haruka just nods in defeat as if to say he's right. And Shintaro really likes being right. "And Takane kicks ass, I'm sure she'll be ready to go home as soon as she wakes up."

"It's weird to hear you speak so positively of her," Haruka wipes his damp cheeks with his sleeves, managing out a laugh. "I'm glad she managed to meet her before falling asleep, though."

"What did she think of her?"

"She said "she's so ugly"," Haruka laughs again, and this time he doesn't try to be subtle about the way he stares at his daughter through the glass. It makes Shintaro smile. "Although, I disagree greatly."

"Well, all of these babies are very ugly indeed," he nods, and Haruka just rolls his eyes. "But she's considerably less ugly, so that says something."

His friend only hums, perhaps in agreement, but neither of them say anything else as they watched her.

They're both quiet for a moment. It isn't silent, because nurses were rushing past them in the hallways, and Haruka still lets out a few more quiet sniffs here and there. Night has fallen already, and Shintaro's pretty hungry, since all he's had today was a few sips of that horrible chocolate milk. When will they be able to wrap it up and go home?

Except, the thought gets stuck in his brain, because their home isn't his home. His "home" is a tiny, cheap, and gross apartment, where towels smell like they're wet and where the sheets have stains of questionable origins.

_...Maybe they'll let me stay?_

He shakes the thought away. Because of course they'll let him stay, that wasn't the problem. Looking at the way Haruka looks at his daughter, Shintaro is reminded why he needed to leave in the first place.

"Y'know, you don't need to "move out"," apparently reading his mind, Haruka voices his concerns. "Takane and I have seen your home, after all. You don't seem to do well living by yourself."

Shintaro winces at the memory of the couple visiting his home on a Sunday afternoon, when they decided they needed to see why he refused so much to stay there. Haruka, always the neat freak, looked a lot more freaked out than the very amused Takane, and they still haven't let him live down the fact there was a who-knows-how-old pee bottle (just _one_ , dammit).

"It's fine, senpai," he says, and he sees the way Haruka rolls his eyes again at the way he was called. The word slipped from his tongue before Shintaro could help it, and it sort of embarrassed him, but he wasn't about to let it show, "You guys have a family now. I'm not a part of that."

"The doctor keeps referring to you as Takane's brother, though," Haruka jokes, and before Shintaro could start explaining why that was, he carries on, "But you still  _are_ family, Shintaro-kun. I don't know where you got the idea you aren't."

He forces out a laugh, sort of hoping for him to be kidding (this would be easier if he was), but Haruka looked dead serious. Shintaro prompts himself to look away again, "I appreciate it, really. But you guys... _deserve_  this, and– I just don't feel comfortable being in the middle of that."

"You aren't in the middle of anything," he muses. He stares back at him for a moment, but Shintaro felt convinced. It probably showed on his face, because Haruka quickly realized he wouldn't change his mind, and nods in understandment. "...Okay. If you don't feel comfortable, you're free to do as you wish."

"Thanks."

They both smile at each other before putting their attention back on the newborn baby girl. Shintaro absently looks at the name tag in her crib, but unlike the other babies, she didn't have two names in hers; hers only says "Kokonose". Obviously. He doubted they would start discussing names while Takane was in labor.

Surprisingly, Shintaro feels okay with this. He'll go back home, maybe even ask Haruka what kind of detergent he uses for their laundry and buy whatever that is because it smells pretty nice, and he'll do his fucking laundry. He'll buy toilet paper. He'll stop skipping work. He'll call Momo and check on her, hell, he'll call his mom too!

...Maybe even visit the cemetery and catch Ayano up with things.

Suddenly, that felt like too much, and despite he's still planning on doing it, Shintaro found himself saying, "...Don't get me wrong though, I'll still visit a whole lot. I'm not ready to say goodbye to the clean towels of the Kokonose residence."

Because all in all, he wasn't ready to feel lonely again. Haruka looks at him with a smile,

"We're counting on it, uncle Shintaro!"


End file.
